


Daft Pretty Boys

by mellobuckets



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Anxiety Disorder, Background Relationships, Childhood Friends, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Gen, Highschool AU, M/M, Multi, Pining, Some angst, honestly the whole squad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-01
Updated: 2018-10-29
Packaged: 2019-07-05 13:46:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15864837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mellobuckets/pseuds/mellobuckets
Summary: Armin Arlert hadn't been prepared for anxiety, and he definitely hadn't been prepared for the realization that he was in love with his best friend.AKA Armin has a bad crush and is just trying to surivive.[title from Daft Pretty Boys by Bad Suns]





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! It's been a while since I've written something I actually posted, but I'm here with some eremin and I'm actually writing ahead and will finish it! Forewarning, this is going to be very cliche. I hope you enjoy!

Armin sighs, rolling over in his bed. He offers a short glance to his clock. 1:15 AM. “Hm,” he thinks. “Not as late as usual but still my mind’s racing at twice the speed.” Nighttime was the worst. He had decided that near the end of fifth grade, also known as the time the anxiety started to settle in. At night there weren’t any distractions. Sure, he had music playing softly from his phone that rested on the bedside table, but the words in his head tended to overcome the low strums and calming voices. He tended to mostly think about school, his friends, his grades, bullies, school a bit more, and, more recently, the elephant in the room which he had realized approximately 47 days ago.

He was in love with his best friend.

Eren Jaeger, 16, close with Armin and his adoptive sister Mikasa since he was a kid. 

Eren Jaeger was hot-headed, jumped into everything too fast, he was often overcome by his emotions, and idiotic in the most genuine way. From a perspective standpoint, there was no reason for Armin to like him. But god, when Armin looked into his bright green eyes, all he could see was good intention. All Eren ever did was for what he figured the greater good was. He acted. And Armin admired that. Armin never took a stand, never went against the flow or current. But not Eren. That boy had a fire in his soul that could never be taken out.

And Armin could’ve dealt with this admiration, he totally could’ve. But it was more than that. Although he had been friends with Eren since childhood and objectively knew all there was to know about him, Armin wanted to know more. He wanted to know how Eren’s brain worked. Armin wanted to share his own mind as well. There was a strong and deep need inside of Armin to be one with Eren. And Armin felt this crossed the “friendship” line. Pair all of this with the beating of Armin’s heart when a certain boy was near, his yearning to be closer, and the way Armin couldn’t stop staring and smiling, you’ve got something dangerous.

Love.

A gentle thud coming from his window shakes Armin from his thoughts. He furrowed his brows and lazily sat up in bed, though he was almost positive what the sound was. He swung his legs off his bed begrudgingly. Another thud sounded from his window. Armin couldn’t help the sleepy smile that covered his face.

He pushed open his window, only to be struck on the forehead by a pebble. “Damnit, Eren.” He muttered, placing a hand to his head. He leaned out of his window, being met with a guilty smile. “Sorry, didn’t know you had opened the window.”

Armin wasn’t sure how Eren hadn’t seen him before swinging a rock his way, but he didn’t comment on it. “You know it’s one in the morning, right?” Eren nodded, a small smile on his face. A quiet bitter laugh left Armin’s lips.

“You’re lucky my grandpa’s not awake.”

“As if Mr. Arlert would do anything but laugh.” Eren beamed up at Armin, gesturing for him to come down. Armin looked down and back at Eren tiredly. Eren’s smile only grew. “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!” Eren basically yelled, holding his arms open. “Eren, come on,” Armin retorted, chuckling. Eren’s brows furrowed in the way they do when he’s determined. Armin was about to give in, but Eren yelled again before he was even able to open his mouth.

“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your-“ Eren was cut off by a dog barking. “Shit,” he muttered, looking behind him to find the neighbor’s dog at the fence.

Armin smiled; this whole encounter was rather endearing. Every night that Eren couldn’t sleep, this happened. And every time, he brought treats in the pocket of his jacket to feed the dog. While Eren was busy trying to quiet the ‘beast’, Armin climbed onto the ledge of his window, carefully making his way down the ropes he and Eren had put there at the beginning of middle school.

Hearing footsteps, Eren turned to him, a smile covering his face. Armin matched his expression.

“So why’d you come, Prince Charming?”


	2. Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very excited for how this fic is turning out! Feel free to talk to me on my tumblr (mellobuckets) or my cosplay instagram (also mellobuckets)!

Their footsteps were in sync; their shadows in the moonlight mirroring each other’s. Eren, it had turned out, had some bad experiences during the night and wasn’t able to sleep. When Armin was informed of this, he had frowned and asked Eren if he was okay. “Don’t worry about it. I just want to walk now,” he had said.

And now here they were, slow steps following one after the other on the cold concrete sidewalk. Armin held his hands, folded, behind his back, while Eren let his swing. Another incompatibility, Armin noted. He looked up at Eren, whose eyes were set straight forward and a bit duller than usual.

“Eren,” Armin began, carefully attempting to broach the subject of Eren’s angst. As soon as the words left Armin’s mouth Eren stopped in his tracks.

“He keeps talking about it.”

Armin stopped as well, though a bit in front of Eren, so he slowly turned around to face his friend. Though he had a general idea of what Eren was talking about, he gently questioned him. “About what?”

 Eren sighed, turning his head to make eye contact with Armin.

“Well, for one, he keeps bringing up my grades. I’ve been able to keep them up to C’s, some even B’s, but that’s still not enough for him. He knows school isn’t my strong suit,” Eren paused to groan. “It’s like he’s trying to make me something I’m not. Speaking of, he keeps asking me if I have a girlfriend yet. Apparently to him, a junior in high school without a girlfriend is a disaster. He doesn’t even know I’m bi, either! I don’t know if he’d be more disappointed in me for not being able to find a partner or if he’d kick me out of the house, honestly. He’s never mentioned his views about that kind of thing, but I’d guess it’s an ‘I don’t have to personally deal with it, so out of sight out of mind’ kind of thing.” Eren looked down, a small chuckle escaping his mouth. “And the thing is, he doesn’t ask Mikasa about her love life. He’ll talk to her about virtually everything, but I’m the one who needs to find a girlfriend to make him happy.”

Eren kicked a rock on the ground, his hands balled up into loose fists. “I’m sorry, Armin. I didn’t mean to take this out on you.” He scratched the back of his head, a guilty look on his face. A gentle smile overtook Armin’s own.

“Don’t be,” He began, taking a step closer to the other. “You didn’t take anything out on me, Eren. You were just getting things off your chest. I’m glad you trust me enough to talk to me about things like this.” Eren gave Armin a look. The blonde boy always said that when Eren vented. “Of course I trust you, Armin. You’re my best friend.”

‘Best friend,’ Armin thought. ‘Best friend and nothing more.’

He quickly shook those thoughts out of his head. Now wasn’t the time to brood.

“But, if you want my advice…” Armin trailed off, waiting for a sign of approval. Eren nodded, prompting Armin to continue. “You really don’t need to prove yourself to your dad. You just need to prove yourself to you. If you’re happy with yourself, that’s all that matters. And I know that deep down your father genuinely just wants you to be happy, no matter what he says.” Armin looked down, then. “About the girlfriend thing… I really don’t know what to say. From the time I’ve known him, Grisha probably just doesn’t believe you’re single.”

Eren gave him baffled look. “What do you mean by that?” He questioned, a small smirk entering his expression.

Armin blushed and ducked his head. He was extremely grateful that it was the middle of the night and Eren wouldn’t be able to see the flush of his cheeks. “You’re a popular guy, Eren. He’s always thought you were ‘good with the ladies.’”

Eren laughed and walked forward to match Armin’s position. He bumped his shoulder into Armin’s. “Yeah, right.” He rolled eyes, taking Armin’s wrist in his hand and turned him around. Again, Armin thanked the big bang that Eren couldn’t see his blush.

“Come on,” Eren told the other. “I want to go to the park before we have to go back.” Armin quickly followed, giggling at Eren’s childishness. They walked along, Eren never taking his grip off of Armin’s wrist.  

_______________

The cool night air tangled its way into Armin’s hair as he gently swayed on the playground’s swing. He looked over at Eren who was lying in a slide, eyes focused on the sky above. Armin let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

This was his idea of bliss. Being with Eren while the stars were out and the world was quiet. This was when he felt the most at peace. The bad thoughts couldn’t get to him; no problems were present.

He admired the other boy while he was focused on something else. Eren had definitely changed over the years.

His body had filled out from the football he played, lean muscles overtaking his body. His face had filled out, as well. As opposed to his chubby child face, he now had a sharp jawline and cheekbones that lasted forever. Armin was convinced that Eren could use his jaw as a damn knife. He had decided that if that’s how he had to go out, he’d be more than happy.

Eren suddenly sat up and turned his head towards Armin. Eren shot him a smile that knocked the air out of him. It should be illegal to be that cute, he had decided.

“Thank you for coming out here with me. I really appreciate it.” Eren looked down for a second and Armin thought he saw Eren frown. “We should probably go back now, though.” He slid down the rest of the slide and was at Armin’s side in a second.

A delicate, tan hand was offered to Armin. He smiled, probably bigger than was normal for friends, and accepted Eren’s help out of the swing.

They walked back to Armin’s house in comfortable silence, their hands occasionally brushing as they both had their arms swinging. Armin would blush every time, but Eren didn’t seemed bothered by it. If Armin hadn’t convinced himself he was just seeing things, he would’ve thought that Eren’s smile seemed to widen a bit more when they touched.

When they arrived at Armin’s house, Eren just barely held Armin’s waist as he climbed the rope back to his window. Once he arrived at his destination, Armin bid Eren goodnight and continued to make his way inside his room.

Armin flopped down onto his bed.

It’s not like physical touch or intimacy was out of the ordinary for them. In fact, they had been that way since they were kids and first established the strong trust they have. There had always been something comforting in Eren’s touch and now it was even worse. Armin’s skin tingled with every brush, every hug, every hold. Armin began to cherish the times when Eren touched him.

But at the same time, he dreaded it. Every time Eren touched him, he got closer to learning Armin’s feelings.

Armin groaned, burying his face in a pillow. This was too much to think about when he needed sleep for school. After a few Melatonin from his bedside drawer and his music being turned up, he was finally able to doze off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hoped you guys enjoyed this chapter!


	3. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lunchtime reflection.

Armin was exhausted by the time he arrived at he and his friends’ lunch table. His classes had been pretty much what he expected. Considering it was still the first week, they hadn’t started anything exactly hard yet. But junior year was hell year, so he already had a load of homework probably heavier than him. 

Jean made a face as Armin took a seat in front of him. “You look terrible,” he commented.

“Thanks.” Jean shook his head and raised his hands. “You know I didn’t mean it like that. I just mean, like, exhausted.” He paused, contemplating. “Now that I think about it, Jaeger looked terrible in first period, too. And this time I mean it in both ways.”

Mikasa shot Jean a glare, causing Armin to giggle. He felt rather proud of his friend group. Or, maybe, the fact that he had such an amazing one in the first place. They all balanced each other out pretty evenly and although there were problems, they were still all friends at the end of the day. 

Armin, of course, was closer to Mikasa and Eren, as he’d known them since he was a kid. Their new friends were those they met freshman year of high school. Their previous schools were very small, but the high school they went to was probably 2.5 times the size, if Armin made his best guess. Instead of just having people in a few mile radius at his school, as he had before, Armin now went to a school with people from all over the district. It was interesting, to say the least.   
But he was happy with how things worked out. He had more friends than he could have ever imagined. Armin mostly defied his younger self’s ideas of what he’d be when he got into high school. Of course, he was still anxious as hell, did well in his classes, and continued to get bullied; but now he had people that stood up for him. The bullying had settled down a lot, but it was still present. Fortunately, it almost never got physical. 

Over the course of middle and high school, Eren had gotten much stronger than he had been. So if anyone threatened Armin, they’d get an equal threat from Eren, which no one wanted to deal with. 

Every time something like that happened, Eren made a joke out of it, saying that Armin was a prince and Eren was in charge of protecting him. They’d laugh every time, of course, but Armin couldn’t help but feel flattered and embarrassed at the same time. He knew that Eren was trying to make him feel better; to feel as if he was important. But still, Armin couldn’t help but feel like a burden. On Eren, and on all of his other friends. They all did their best to stand up for him, and though Armin appreciated it, he still felt bad.

Mikasa must have noticed that Armin was a bit out of it, so she brought him into the conversation. 

“Do you think Connie should grow his hair out, Armin?”

Armin snapped out of his daze, and looked from Mikasa to Connie. He smiled. “He should do what he wants, he’ll still be the same Connie and we’ll back him either way.”

“I personally think that Connie with a ponytail would be pretty fucking great.”

Eren scooted himself next to Armin with a big smile, making sure his comment didn’t go unnoticed. Connie scoffed. “As if. I was just wondering if I should buzz it again or skip a month.”

Eren shrugged, stealing one of Armin’s chips. “Still think you’d rock it,” he said. He then buried his head into his folded arms, looking tired as hell.

“Jaeger, what were you and Armin up to last night?” Jean threw a smirk their way. Blood rushed to Armin’s face. He looked everywhere but at Eren, who just lifted his head and let out a, “Huh?”

With a roll of his eyes, Jean elaborated. “You both look like you’ve got zero sleep. We all know you both hang out with each other more than anyone else. Fuck, Armin’s fire engine red right now.” Eren didn’t spare a glance at Armin before he retorted. “If you need to know, we do it quite often.” 

Armin, realizing that Eren’s words could be taken in a completely different context, came to his senses and added to Eren’s reply. “We went on a walk. Around the neighborhood.”

Jean looked unconvinced, but Eren just smiled and threw an arm over Armin’s shoulder. “The best bro bonding time is two in the morning!” Mikasa sighed and added into the conversation. “I heard him coming back into the house around four,” she commented. Jean then went on to say that though Jaeger was full of bullshit, this seemed to be legit because he looked like a rat that stayed up all night.

Armin’s face had only cooled down about five minutes before lunch ended. Luckily no one commented on it further, but he was embarrassed nonetheless. His next class, science, he had with Eren. It was the only one they had together, so Armin looked forward to it the most. 

Eren flashed Armin a smile when the bell rang. “Come on, Armin. Time to learn.” 

He tugged at Armin’s sleeve until he got up. Armin should be used to it at this point, but gestures like these still made him blush.

“I’m coming, you dork.” He chuckled, ducking his head to hide his embarrassment. Eren just flashed him his signature smile and continued to pull Armin down the hall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this took so long to update. I should be updating more regularly now.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed this first chapter/introduction! I already have more chapters written but I'm going to slightly space out when I updated in case I fall behind in writing! Leave a comment if you'd like, and remember that kudos motivate me more!  
> (i sound like a sellout but it's hecking true)


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